Willie Mae’s Nola — Restaurant in New Orleans

It's great to see this James Beard Award Winning, Historic, Legendary Institution of New Orleans open again. On a visit to New Orleans 5 years ago, I visited the Scotch House and wrote the following. In town for business and had to stop by Auntie Willie Mae's House ! 1st visit Everything almost as good as your grandmother's or Mom's cooking. My meal lived up to expectations and the reputation of this Great New Orleans institution. The food was made fresh with love. I visited on a Tuesday evening so slower than normal evening but the traffic was steady. That was a good thing for me. I was promptly greeted and seated. Service was friendly and attentive. I ordered the 3 piece fried chicken with Lima Beans and Candied Yams. The fried chicken was nicely seasoned and crisp. Great finger licking flavor. Real Deal ! Lima Beans were amazing, and the star of the meal for me was the Candied Yams. Amazing flavor. I could have eaten a couple more orders. Yes, it's better than Grandmothers. This recipe has been worked over the years to perfection. I have seen and tasted that kind of perfection and love before in my family. Great Food, Great Service, Great ambiance. It's worth the visit! It's one of my favorite restaurants to visit when I'm in New Orleans ! I'll be back. Strongly suggest you visit! Well I"m happy to say that this evening was the day I finally had the opportunity to visit the new Willie Mae's Nola. They have not missed a beat. Everything was outstanding. We had reservations. Greeted and seated promptly. Cocktails were excellent. We ordered the deviled eggs, 2 piece chicken dinner, dark meat, red beans and rice, lima beans and rice, and the absolute star of the show was the gumbo. On every visit to every restaurant, I try the Gumbo. I have visited many parts of Louisiana over the last 5 years of visiting. I haven"t had a better gumbo anywhere in this state! The new location has elevated the legendary status of Willie Mae's. I'm blessed to travel the country and to visit a lot of restaurants in my travels. Willie Maes has been at the top of my list of all-time best experiences, and it will remain there. I'm glad and proud you have overcome all obstacles and retained your iconic status in the New Orleans food scene. If you are in town and enjoy this type of cuisine, it's a must visit.

I'm glad you are back, Glad I finally had the opportunity to dine at your establishment again with friends. Thanks, Arrianne, for providing great service and dining experience! I will be back on my next...

I waited for 2 1/2 years for Kerry to bring Willie Mae’s back from LA and I’m so disappointed. I really hate to give WMSH a bad review, but I really have to be honest here. I understand this is not the regular main house restaurant but I have a feeling it’s going to be changed as well (for the worse) once it opens.

I’ll start with the chicken - still delicious except it appears to be a different recipe this time. It’s a flakier crust vs crunchier. Definitely spicier compared to the original on St Ann. I didn’t have a big problem with it because I like spice, but I really did LOVE the original flavor and taste and crunch of the original. I feel that the average tourist will probably think it’s a little too spicy. We also had the butter beans (which I had been bragging about for 20 years to anyone who would listen!)… not the same unfortunately. Less soupy more pasty Definitely pretty spicy (again like the chicken) and a little bit more than what people probably would like. What happened to the plate full of beans with the little pop of rice in the center and a little hot sauce at the table to make the heat for yourself? The cornbread muffin was an afterthought and was sort of dry.

The staff were friendly and attentive enough but it feels like they’re trying to go for more of a four-star restaurant versus a place to go have a good home cooked style meal. The upselling of appetizers, cocktails, dessert etc was not what I was looking for. Again, I do realize that this is in the Warehouse district and higher end restaurants are in the area but this was not the experience I longed for. The worst part about the experience is the price. There is no way I could ever go back and pay that much money for four pieces of chicken (really three pieces of chicken and a wing). The wings are so small they are really count as just a bite. About $35 per person for 3.5 pieces of chicken, butter beans and one Coke (my companion drank water once he saw the prices!)

I’ll cross my fingers that Willie Mae’s comes back like it used to be, but judging by this experience, I don’t have high hopes. It may be that the California California restaurants have had a lot of influence on the style recipes and prices, but this is not California. It’s really incredibly sad but not just for me for friends that have been coming here for years and for the tourists that I’ve been giving advice on where to eat at. I always loved putting Willie Mae’s at the top of my list. Unfortunately, I can no longer do that....

So today I walked into Willie Mae's Nola on Baronne in hopes of having lunch and celebrating with my family. I arrived at approximately 12:50 and was put down for a 1:30 reservation for 4 guests. The receptionist asked my name again at 1:05 to seat me. I told her my party wouldn't arrive til 1:15 so the 1:30 was still good AND there were 3 other parties already waiting before me. I asked did she call the wrong name and she insisted no you can be seated now the other parties are larger. I said okay cool well I'll get started with ordering our Appetizers and a Bottle of Champagne so it's here when they arrive. After a few minutes of being seated and scanning the menu the very rude owner came over and told me that if my party wasn't there I'd have to get up from the table. I told her I was just seated and they'd be there shortly. I was literally waiting on the waitress to come to began my tables ordering. She said VERY RUDELY that the receptionist told me wrong and I had to get up. I'm not exaggerating, her attitude was straight NASTY. Now this is a Beautiful Esthetically pleasing restaurant that I was looking forward to patronizing. The Owners rudeness totally prevented that from happening. I got up and went back to the receptionist and asked her the Owners name and she refused to give it to me bc despite the lady's madness she's a loyal employee. I stood there awhile and observed this same lady be a complete Tyrant to her employees. Now I never ever give a bad review but this pissed me off to the highest of pisstivity. Not only was she rude and unprofessional towards me but her employees as well. Some folks really have no integrity with their businesses and don't realize that our dollars spend anywhere. This was disappointing to say the least. I've heard great things about their food but I'd never return bc of the horrible service I received today....